Bill Kennedy: Core goal is student achievement

I haven’t weighed in on this subject previously, mostly because I wasn’t sure where I stood one way or the other. I’m still conflicted, but I do have some questions that might help me make up my mind. The subject in question is the Common Core academic standards controversy.

I am aware and understand that the implementation of these curriculum standards has been a bit of a fiasco all across the country. My feeling is that this problem has been exacerbated by the short timeline for the installation of these standards and the changes to the curriculum needed to achieve them. I am of the opinion that the carrot and stick approach to getting the states to implement the changes that appear to come down from the federal level is one reason there has been such a backlash against them from school systems nationwide.

The major piece of misinformation that keeps being put out by the opponents of the new standards, that the standards were designed by and are a function of the federal Department of Education, keeps the citizenry all fired up because they feel, as I do, that the local school systems should decide how the various subjects are taught. In reality, the impetus for the new curriculum standards came from the local systems, up through the state administrators and then to the national level. Unfortunately, the feds control many of the purse strings for education nationally, thus the appearance that the thing started at the federal level.

Be that as it may, the big question for me concerns how American children stack up against the rest of the world’s students on standardized tests of knowledge and cognitive thinking. This is especially important in the areas of mathematics and the various sciences. Some recent results put the good old USA behind some 35 other countries, mostly European and Asian, on a battery of these tests. Call me a “homer,” but I’m of the opinion that we should rank at least in the top five if not number one.

Now, some may opine that these rankings mean little in the grand scheme of things, but as I look at it we’re the best country on Earth with many resources both natural and intellectual, and to have our children not being educationally competitive with much of the rest of the industrial world doesn’t make sense.

With all of that said, the question remains: Are the required levels of achievement necessary for graduation from high schools and colleges from here in Carroll County to local school districts nationwide and every accredited college and university in this country too low, and will Common Core raise them? The ability of our graduates, both high school and college, to compete for jobs with those from the countries with higher academic rankings could determine the fate of our nation and whether it remains a true superpower in the economic arena worldwide.

This bring me back to the basic question: Who can be against raising the educational standards in our schools to make our future graduates competitive equals with those from around the world? If the Common Core standards will achieve that, then I’m all in. If, on the other hand, the program is like most others in the past, brings a lessening of academic standards and is just a feel good program which simply controls the federal funding for education to meet some nebulous criteria, then let it die.

Will Common Core be a positive program if implemented properly, or will it be another failed attempt? If you have those answers, please let me know; I’m still confused.

Bill Kennedy writes every other Monday from Taneytown. Email him at wlkennedyiii@verizon.net.

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